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Ok, so I have been researching the SF biglaw market (using NALP, primarily). I have also done some searching around the threads on this site. I thought I might just throw this question out there to get some current, word-of-mouth information about the SF biglaw scene (which, I know, is small in comparison to NY and Chicago).

Here is the question: If you were a law student looking to do biglaw in SF, what are the top seven firms you would target and why?

Anonymous User wrote:Ok, so I have been researching the SF biglaw market (using NALP, primarily). I have also done some searching around the threads on this site. I thought I might just throw this question out there to get some current, word-of-mouth information about the SF biglaw scene (which, I know, is small in comparison to NY and Chicago).

Here is the question: If you were a law student looking to do biglaw in SF, what are the top seven firms you would target and why?

By SF do you mean SF proper, or would you also consider Silicon Valley?

Also any interest in corporate vs. litigation? Because the list could vary depending on that (a lot of the SV firms are corporate-heavy).

If you're a current law student, you should have access to the full Vault guide (all 700 pages or so), including the breakdown of rankings by region. Also, there is ( I believe) an entirely separate guide for Northern California or the Pacific Northwest. These resources should help give you a more concrete answer to your question than anything we say on here.

OP here. Litigation over corporate. Could broaden the question to include Silicone Valley.

IzziesGal - you are right. There is a ton of information in the sources you reference (I always appreciate your answers here at TLS); however, I am interested to see if anyone on this site has a top list of firms they are interested for other reasons (work place culture, quality of life considerations, or other "insider"/personal reasons).

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Litigation over corporate. Could broaden the question to include Silicone Valley.

IzziesGal - you are right. There is a ton of information in the sources you reference (I always appreciate your answers here at TLS); however, I am interested to see if anyone on this site has a top list of firms they are interested for other reasons (work place culture, quality of life considerations, or other "insider"/personal reasons).

Ahhh...I get it. =) Well from what I've heard from others in the Bay, Mofo seems to be the big one "personality" wise - it's supposed to be trendier and a bit hipper than other firms. Also, a friend of mine had an offer at Quinn Emmanuel (which she ultimately declined), but their band tee shirts and jeans dress code totally has me captivated (if I were staying in CA, they'd be my first choice....). Quinn is a litigation-only shop, so that may factor into your decision.

Also....

Kirkland - big and prestigious, yet notoriously stuffyOrrick - rejects people via phone call. Not a big fan of that (see my other threads)Gunderson Dettmar (spelling?) - does a lot of venture capital work in SV (Silicon Valley)

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Litigation over corporate. Could broaden the question to include Silicone Valley.

IzziesGal - you are right. There is a ton of information in the sources you reference (I always appreciate your answers here at TLS); however, I am interested to see if anyone on this site has a top list of firms they are interested for other reasons (work place culture, quality of life considerations, or other "insider"/personal reasons).

Ahhh...I get it. =) Well from what I've heard from others in the Bay, Mofo seems to be the big one "personality" wise - it's supposed to be trendier and a bit hipper than other firms. Also, a friend of mine had an offer at Quinn Emmanuel (which she ultimately declined), but their band tee shirts and jeans dress code totally has me captivated (if I were staying in CA, they'd be my first choice....). Quinn is a litigation-only shop, so that may factor into your decision.

Also....

Kirkland - big and prestigious, yet notoriously stuffyOrrick - rejects people via phone call. Not a big fan of that (see my other threads)Gunderson Dettmar (spelling?) - does a lot of venture capital work in SV (Silicon Valley)

Thanks, you awesome Boaltie -- this is exactly the type of info I was hoping this thread would generate.

It's going to depend entirely on what type of work you want to do, and asking for a top 7 is pretty hard to evaluate (especially within corporate, since there are various sub-rankings by practice). With a litigation preference, I'd roughly list these as the big names in SF/SV (in no particular order):

Gibson DunnO'MelvenyMofoLathamQuinnKirkland? (only a Band 4 on C&A and not entirely sure of their SF presence - great for litigation nationally, though)

On the corporate side, some of the bigger names will be:

LathamKirklandWSGRGundersonSTBFenwickCooleyMofo

These lists aren't perfect and I'm surely leaving some firms off that probably deserve to be included. Feel free to add/correct as you see fit, but I'd list those as some of the heaviest hitters for SF/SV.

Edit: To supplement what Izzies said about Vault, also check Chambers Associate (http://www.chambers-associate.com/) - it does rankings based on practice area and region, and is far (far, far, far) more useful than just the general Vault 100 rankings. In addition to these specific practice area rankings, they have little write-ups on office culture, assignments, advancement/professional development, and that sort of stuff.

FlightoftheEarls wrote:It's going to depend entirely on what type of work you want to do, and asking for a top 7 is pretty hard to evaluate (especially within corporate, since there are various sub-rankings by practice). With a litigation preference, I'd roughly list these as the big names in SF/SV (in no particular order):

Gibson DunnO'MelvenyMofoLathamQuinnKirkland? (only a Band 4 on C&A and not entirely sure of their SF presence - great for litigation nationally, though)

On the corporate side, some of the bigger names will be:

LathamKirklandWSGRGundersonSTBFenwickCooleyMofo

These lists aren't perfect and I'm surely leaving some firms off that probably deserve to be included. Feel free to add/correct as you see fit, but I'd list those as some of the heaviest hitters for SF/SV.

Edit: To supplement what Izzies said about Vault, also check Chambers Associate (http://www.chambers-associate.com/) - it does rankings based on practice area and region, and is far (far, far, far) more useful than just the general Vault 100 rankings. In addition to these specific practice area rankings, they have little write-ups on office culture, assignments, advancement/professional development, and that sort of stuff.

This is generally consistent with what I've heard. Also second the recommendation of Chambers Associate - it's a great resource that probably has a lot of the info you're looking for.

Wilson Sonsini: king of emerging tech companies, IPO, venture capital - big, but I hear not the best place to work, also only just recently restored market pay. but the king of SV.Fenwick: strong VC and IPO, small, SV firm.Gunderson: same, emerging company firm, also small SV firmLatham: strong corporate in the bay area, CA, and nationwide, also good litigation. very prominent office in menlo park.Mofo: most prominent/largest bay area firm, big offices in SF and palo alto, prestigious, bay area leader, also very good litigation (one of the stronges IP lit groups in the country)Orrick: the second biggest SF firm, but I hear not in the best shapePillsbury: stay awayKirkland: v10, does almost exclusivity private equity in SF (no litigation)Gibson: middling palo alto practice, all litigation in SFCooley: smallish tech firm, very strong in the life sciencesJones Day: tiny corporate (but growing), big litigation practice in SFSimpson/Davis Polk/all the big NYC firms: mainly in SV, do heavy hitting capital markets work and NYC style m&a.There are other elite boutiques such as Kecker and Munger and some decent midlaw like Howard Rice.

SF will have more litigation heavy practices, and SV will have more corporate work. both markets are about the same size, and there is plenty of overlap (only 35 miles apart afterall). In the SV, you can think of there being "indigenous" valley firms (Wilson, Cooley, Fenwick, Gunderson) that work with emerging companies as they get VC funding and IPO, and the NYC transplants that do big m&a stuff. Then there are middle market firms (Latham, Gibson, Mofo) that do a bit of both.

If I was bidding on SF, I'd personally want to work at Mofo. It has the biggest office in the city, highest vault ranking, good recognition and exit opps in the bay, good clients, and supposedly a good culture. True for corporate and lit.

SV would be a bit harder, depending on what you want to do. If you want to do VC/emerging company stuff, head to one of the indigenous firms.

FWIW, bay area firms are doing very well right now. the web 2.0 boom is slamming all the corporate departments in SF and SV...far cry from the crash in 2009 when most firms had to do layoffs.

Wilson Sonsini: king of emerging tech companies, IPO, venture capital - big, but I hear not the best place to work, also only just recently restored market pay. but the king of SV.Fenwick: strong VC and IPO, small, SV firm.Gunderson: same, emerging company firm, also small SV firmLatham: strong corporate in the bay area, CA, and nationwide, also good litigation. very prominent office in menlo park.Mofo: most prominent/largest bay area firm, big offices in SF and palo alto, prestigious, bay area leader, also very good litigation (one of the stronges IP lit groups in the country)Orrick: the second biggest SF firm, but I hear not in the best shapePillsbury: stay awayKirkland: v10, does almost exclusivity private equity in SF (no litigation)Gibson: middling palo alto practice, all litigation in SFCooley: smallish tech firm, very strong in the life sciencesJones Day: tiny corporate (but growing), big litigation practice in SFSimpson/Davis Polk/all the big NYC firms: mainly in SV, do heavy hitting capital markets work and NYC style m&a.There are other elite boutiques such as Kecker and Munger and some decent midlaw like Howard Rice.

SF will have more litigation heavy practices, and SV will have more corporate work. both markets are about the same size, and there is plenty of overlap (only 35 miles apart afterall). In the SV, you can think of there being "indigenous" valley firms (Wilson, Cooley, Fenwick, Gunderson) that work with emerging companies as they get VC funding and IPO, and the NYC transplants that do big m&a stuff. Then there are middle market firms (Latham, Gibson, Mofo) that do a bit of both.

If I was bidding on SF, I'd personally want to work at Mofo. It has the biggest office in the city, highest vault ranking, good recognition and exit opps in the bay, good clients, and supposedly a good culture. True for corporate and lit.

SV would be a bit harder, depending on what you want to do. If you want to do VC/emerging company stuff, head to one of the indigenous firms.

FWIW, bay area firms are doing very well right now. the web 2.0 boom is slamming all the corporate departments in SF and SV...far cry from the crash in 2009 when most firms had to do layoffs.

Great Post. Are you able to give a similar rundown on the San Diego biglaw market?

The above poster is correct. Pillsbury is just a firm in decline that used to be much better. They did a lot of layoffs, have low associate morale, salary cuts/freezes, terrible bonuses, etc. PPP is under a million which is pretty rare for v100 biglaw these days. I think part of their downfall was a disastrous merger that ended up not really working out as they had hoped.

I do not have similar info on SD firms, but can tell you that SD is a much smaller market. There are only a few biglaw shops in town and its nothing like SF/SV or LA.

Anonymous User wrote:I can take other questions on SF firms if you have them.

If someone wants to do white-collar work, what SF (by SF, I mean Bay Area: SF, SJ, Palo Alto) firms should I be looking at? I have heard Gibson Dunn and the above-mentioned Keker and Van Nest, but am only beginning my research. I guess relatedly while I want SF, I want to do white-collar more, so does it make sense to primarily target SF or should I be looking at other markets (such as NY or DC)?

I am as of this moment top 5% BMVPDCNG with really really strong ties to SF. Thanks for your (or anyone who can share) help!